Sniper Elite V2 free on steam for some more hours

[luis]

I don't have a steam account and probably never will but if someone is interested in this:

http://store.steampowered.com/app/63380/

[Bananenfreak]

I love free AAA games

[Inf0Byt3]

Seems like a nice game, thanks luis. Too bad that it doesn't work on XP (at least that's what the system requirements section shows).

[luis]

@Inf0Byt3

I think it's a DX 10 game and Microsoft as we know decided to leave XP behind with DX 9.

DX 10 arrived with Vista and they needed to use all the possible leverage to strangle people into submission (upgrade).

Also XP is 12+ years old... so ... it's understandable.

[Inf0Byt3]

Strangle. You nailed it right there buddy.

This may seem like another rant against M$, but I believe they lost a lot of territory with this of strategy of releasing version after version (without any real improvement). Sooner or later people will understand that they are paying for virtually the same OS with some features removed then for the same OS with the old features re-added. XP is old but everyone knows how to use it. Also it's damn fast.

I won't ever pay for another M$ OS ever unless I lose my mind somehow. Will keep XP until it becomes vulnerable then switch to Linux (and run XP in a VM) while waiting for ReactOS. Hopefully a working version will be released in my lifetime .

[Tenaja]

I disagree that there is no improvement in Windows. As for speed, W7 is virtually the same as XP; where W7 got slower it was always an insignificant change, but it also got significantly faster (i.e. twice as fast) in a couple areas. However, I much prefer the W7 interface, along with its numerous other improvements. The most significant being [finally] great support for 64-bit apps. That, and the taskbar updates, alt-tab improvements and window snapping functions are worth the upgrade alone. Not only that, you can network a lot more PC's than you used to, and that helped us at work a lot. (XP had such a low number we had to jump through hoops to connect the "right" computers together, and a Linux NAS was a requirement.)

I'm no MS fan; I'd be using Linux if a) it had quality programs (there are no real engineering programs for it), and b) it was as good as Windows--meaning even a salesman could use it. But the reality is that it is not ready for mainstream use. It will never be as good as MS or OSX; the software authors for nix don't get paid, so the software doesn't get as much attention. And I have never seen a Mac I liked.

[Inf0Byt3]

I disagree that there is no improvement in Windows. As for speed, W7 is virtually the same as XP; where W7 got slower it was always an insignificant change, but it also got significantly faster (i.e. twice as fast) in a couple areas. However, I much prefer the W7 interface, along with its numerous other improvements. The most significant being [finally] great support for 64-bit apps. That, and the taskbar updates, alt-tab improvements and window snapping functions are worth the upgrade alone. Not only that, you can network a lot more PC's than you used to, and that helped us at work a lot. (XP had such a low number we had to jump through hoops to connect the "right" computers together, and a Linux NAS was a requirement.)

Regarding Windows 7, yes, it probably was the only step forward (or as I see it, a good alternative to XP). One could argue that bad versions will appear (Vista) as a natural step in the process of evolution of a product but then how do they explain the disappearance of the Start button and its reappearance later on... It doesn't look good for a company that invests millions in research.

I'm no MS fan; I'd be using Linux if a) it had quality programs (there are no real engineering programs for it), and b) it was as good as Windows--meaning even a salesman could use it. But the reality is that it is not ready for mainstream use. It will never be as good as MS or OSX; the software authors for nix don't get paid, so the software doesn't get as much attention. And I have never seen a Mac I liked.

Indeed, Linux is not ready yet, but it's very close thanks to distros like Ubuntu. Many things have been improved, but there is place for a lot more. It probably would have been better for the community to focus on raising the quality of the programs and improving user-friendliness instead of adding eye-candy. In any case, Linux is starting to come to the center of attention (for example Valve ported Steam) and it's all for the better as I see it. Maybe it will never surpass Windows, but it will gain enough momentum to be used as a good alternative. I won't touch the OSX subject since I haven't worked with it at all.